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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22452529">carnival</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_at_dawn/pseuds/rain_at_dawn'>rain_at_dawn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stars, scattered [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SHINee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Band Fic, Established Relationship, M/M, Making Out, Romantic Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 15:27:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22452529</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_at_dawn/pseuds/rain_at_dawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bright lights from giant wheels fall on the alleyways<br/>And I'm here, by my door<br/>Waiting for you</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Jonghyun/Lee Jinki | Onew</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stars, scattered [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608877</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>carnival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>prompted by @YuirZa on Twitter</p>
<p>song inspo - carnival by the cardigans</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The carnival comes alive in the city on a balmy evening and for two people who’d flown home from the other side of the world yesterday, it’s not so much an attraction than it is a possibility. Jonghyun has to practically force Jinki into a hoodie and pair of shoes, then into his car to get there. They’d been stuck on a plane for thirteen and a half hours, then collapsed onto their beds for another eleven, so it’s no wonder that Jinki seems out of sorts with his surroundings.</p>
<p>To make up for it, the first thing Jonghyun does when they reach the fairground is to buy him a popsicle; one of those quaint chocolate ones dipped in cornflakes. The girl who hands it over the stall’s wooden counter seems just as amused as Jonghyun feels when they catch Jinki’s eyes gleam as bright as the fairy-lights strung above them.</p>
<p>It’s smooth sailing from here on out. Jonghyun remembers a picture he’d come across of his mother with her first boyfriend from ’79 or somewhere. It was a slightly blurry little thing, dappled in natural light and ragged around the edges, held in place in her scrapbook with a paperclip. He thinks of how young she’d been then, how happy she’d looked with her hand clasped around that strange man’s elbow.</p>
<p>He doesn’t even dare to take Jinki’s hand, though he knows he would’ve gladly welcomed it.</p>
<p>There’s piped organ music playing from the speakers mounted on red-and-white poles. It takes him back to a dream about childhood, the one where he’d had all the time in the world to chase his ambitions and none of their trappings to weigh him down.</p>
<p>“You should eat too, Jonghyunnie.” Jinki’s eyes wander from stall to stall, from candy apples to hot dogs to roast sweetcorn to Jonghyun with his hands in the pockets of his parka. “What do you want? I’ll get it for you.”</p>
<p>Jinki would give him the world, a fact that Jonghyun’s painfully aware of, but there’s little around here that could fill Jonghyun. Except the one thing that had caught his eye while thumbing through the flyer that had found its way through the dorm mailbox, crammed amidst the bills and newspapers.</p>
<p>“There.” He points to the Ferris wheel that lies visibly beyond the clump of game-stalls and milling crowds. “Let’s go there.”</p>
<p>He’d take Jinki’s hand if he could.</p>
<p>He would.</p>
<p>He does.</p>
<p>Jinki’s hand is smaller than his and fits perfectly. Something changes from the moment their fingers slot together and any concerns Jonghyun’s had about Dispatch and sasaengs instantly melts away. He leads the way to the Ferris wheel, letting the rest of the world stream by in a whirlwind of twinkling lights and navy blue sky and the huff of Jinki’s breaths as he tries to keep up.</p>
<p>Up close, the wheel is larger than it had looked in the pictures. Jinki’s eyebrows furrow under his hood as he takes it all in.</p>
<p>“Weird. Doesn’t seem like you could see all of Seoul from the top.”</p>
<p>Jonghyun doesn’t care what the flyer had said. All he notes are the patterns of multi-colored Nemos and Dorys on each pod, along with the sticky corner of Jinki’s mouth, smudged with chocolate. By the time they get their tokens and prepare to enter the first incoming pod, Jinki’s excitement seems to have caught up.</p>
<p>They get the pod all to themselves, which is smaller on the inside and the seats lined with fake plastic leather. It rises up and up, and midway, Jinki points to a square of trees that are already growing bald in time for winter. The grin is creeping up over his face, the coldest pun is about the pop the silence, and Jonghyun takes this as a sign to crush his lips over Jinki’s, keeping it that way.</p>
<p>Jinki tastes like chocolate and fructose. His laughter bubbles sweetly under his tongue when Jonghyun licks into his mouth, savoring it. They’ve been so busy and he’s had to keep so much from spilling over into their schedules. The words form between their mouths, wedged between each kiss, ‘I’ and ‘love’ and ‘you’. Jinki must know this; Jonghyun doesn’t so much as tell him as show it with surprises like this. Still, reminders never hurt.</p>
<p>Before they even reach the summit, Jonghyun is perched on Jinki’s lap and on top of the world. He pulls away to catch his breath, cups his hands underneath Jinki’s jawline and then starts his next course of attack; more kisses, peppering Jinki’s cheeks and nose and forehead. Jinki counters with an equal measure of finesse.</p>
<p>Two rotations of this; a rip-off, considering the price of admission. But the glow on Jinki’s face at the end of it, making him appear far too young for his age, has Jonghyun brimming with the same sort of warmth their songs are about. As soon as the door to their pod slides open, he’s sure he can feel the rip in his chest from which his heart’s about to burst from.</p>
<p>Jinki’s the one who takes his hand this time, rubbing his thumb into Jonghyun’s palm. For him, Jonghyun gladly returns to earth.</p>
<p>“Where to now?” Jonghyun teases, not caring much either way, though he’s more inclined to the direction of the nearest hotel. Or his car, locked and secure in the carpark. Fuck Dispatch.</p>
<p>Jinki’s smile doesn’t fade a bit.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna win you a plushie. The biggest one around here.”</p>
<p>Jonghyun slides in closer, watches their steps sync perfectly as they wind their way through the crowds and towards the nearest ball and bucket toss. He leans in, enough for his lips to brush Jinki’s earlobe and says, “I’d kiss you again for good luck, but there might be a fansite around.”</p>
<p>The shade of pink on Jinki’s cheek and ear deepens, but his voice rings low and clear when he replies, “You can pay me back when we get to the dorm.”</p>
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